Americans United - prayer proclamationshttps://www.au.org/tags/prayer-proclamations
enThe Fourth Of July And Freedom: Why Texas Gov. Perry Doesn’t Understand Americahttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-fourth-of-july-and-freedom-why-texas-gov-perry-doesn%E2%80%99t-understand
<a href="/about/people/bathija">Sandhya Bathija</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>I will be celebrating this July 4th with my family in Michigan, where I’m about to head in a few hours.</p>
<p>I’ll be attending a parade on Monday and watching some fireworks with my niece and nephew, who are second-generation Americans. Since my niece was three, she’s boasted that she is an American. Now that she is a bit older (she turned five in June), she may finally start to understand what that really means.</p>
<p>Though she and the rest of my family belong to a minority ethnic and religious group, as Americans, we are all guaranteed the same rights as everyone else. It doesn’t matter whether someone is Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish or subscribes to no faith at all – we are all a part of this country.</p>
<p>That’s because our government has remained neutral on religion – making sure that all faith groups and none are welcome. It’s the government’s constitutional duty to ensure that no one feels like an outcast because of his or her belief system.</p>
<p>For the most part, our elected officials do a great job of upholding that principle. But every now and then, someone like Texas Gov. Rick Perry comes along who just doesn’t seem to care how he makes Americans who don’t subscribe to his beliefs feel.</p>
<p>As you may recall, he’s <a href="http://blog.au.org/2011/06/07/houston-we-have-a-problem-texas-governor-sponsors-stadium-prayer-rally/">sponsoring</a> a fundamentalist Christian prayer rally at Reliant Stadium in Houston. He has proclaimed Aug. 6 to be an official day of prayer and fasting and is urging Christians to ask God for the “[h]ealing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal and robust way of life.”</p>
<p>The prayer rally is being organized by the American Family Association, and is dubbed “The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis.” Perry has invited governors from every state to join him in promoting the observance. (So far, only Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Religious Right ally, has said he will attend.)</p>
<p>Initially, many observers thought that The Response wanted to use this event to convert non-Christians. <em>MotherJones </em>now <a href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/06/rick-perrys-prayerfest-only-christians-allowed">reports</a> that rally organizers have issued a statement making it clear that only Christians will be permitted to speak at the event.</p>
<p>In a message sent via email, The Response says that if representatives from other faiths were included, that would promote “idolatry.”</p>
<p>Allan Parker, one of Perry’s organizers, <a href="http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=ym7lz8bab&amp;v=001dSc8ZL6S2HGwIadr5gXZCwrwuAcWidrJIQCilf0WmdIS6f8hDO2EvfU4VIZNJSalvX710Bhl6ZxOLoExf9WCnjd3ZtsAEPnnxcq-PKFsDW6RZBJRKnOS3U2XUm6VLGzvw6-C9hZszEcI2DyJ-LbU5n61nvPyr6rYsicmWPvaJnM%3D">writes</a>, “This is an explicitly Christian event because we are going to be praying to the one true God through His son, Jesus Christ. It would be idolatry of the worst sort for Christians to gather and invite false gods like Allah and Buddha and their false prophets to be with us at that time. Because we have religious liberty in this country, they are free to have events and pray to Buddha and Allah on their own. But this is time of prayer to the One True God through His son, Jesus Christ, who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.”</p>
<p>Of course, fundamentalist Christians -- like everyone else -- have the religious freedom to put on such a rally. It becomes a different story, though, when a government official specifically promotes one faith over another. What if this were a Muslim event – would the majority of Americans be comfortable with a governor sponsoring it?</p>
<p>Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn has openly criticized Perry for backing an event that excludes people of other faith groups and nonbelievers. He wrote a <a href="http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2011/06/letter-to-gov-perry-re.pdf">letter</a> to the governor and directed a <a href="http://www.au.org/media/videos/archives/2011/not-a-cowboy.html?utm_source=au%2Bhomepage&amp;utm_medium=homepage%2Bbanner&amp;utm_campaign=Featured%2Bon%20homepage">video</a> toward him, as well.</p>
<p>Lynn also signed a <a href="http://houstonclergycouncil.org/">letter</a> drafted by Texas clergy who support church-state separation and religious pluralism and oppose this event.</p>
<p>Perry has recently responded to our concerns. Yesterday, we received a letter from his staff, in which they defend the governor’s involvement, claiming that our country has a long tradition of allowing government officials to promote prayer.</p>
<p>But this goes far beyond that. Perry initiated The Response, and he is effectively supporting the exclusion of many Americans solely because they worship “false gods.” Who gave him the right to decide which gods are false and which are not?</p>
<p>The Constitution certainly did not give him the right to do that in his role as a government official. In fact, the Constitution forbids him to favor one religion over another or religion over non-religion. His behavior as a government official is unacceptable.</p>
<p>This July 4th, I plan to celebrate the America I have known – the one that has always welcomed my family. It’s too bad Gov. Perry can’t do the same.</p>
<p>Happy Independence Day!</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/prayer-at-government-events-and-legislative-meetings">Prayer at Government Events and Legislative Meetings</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-family-association">American Family Association</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/freedom-religion">Freedom of Religion</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/government-sponsored-religion">government-sponsored religion</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/prayer-proclamations">prayer proclamations</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/prayer-rally">prayer rally</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/rick-perry">Rick Perry</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/texas">Texas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/response">The Response</a></span></div></div>Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:15:08 +0000Sandhya Bathija2543 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-fourth-of-july-and-freedom-why-texas-gov-perry-doesn%E2%80%99t-understand#commentsReason In The Rotunda: Speaking Up For Church-State Separation In Minnesota’s Capitolhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/reason-in-the-rotunda-speaking-up-for-church-state-separation-in-minnesota
<a href="/about/people/bathija">Sandhya Bathija</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Every year around the National Day of Prayer (NDP) – which occurred last Thursday – Americans United gets really busy.</p>
<p>Media outlets and various interest groups want to hear our take on the government-mandated day to pray, which started in 1952 when Congress passed a federal statute ordering the president to declare a prayer day each year. (In 1998, the NDP was codified as the first Thursday of every May.)</p>
<p>Americans United opposes the NDP, not because we are against prayer, but because we do not believe government officials should be asking us to participate in an inherently religious exercise.</p>
<p>On Thursday, CNN quoted Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn, summing up AU’s stance.</p>
<p>When Congress in the 1950s decided to create a day for one kind of religious expression, said Lynn, it was improperly interfering with religion, which ought to be a personal matter.</p>
<p>“Many of us are frankly insulted that Congress thinks it needs to tell us what day to be particularly prayerful," Lynn <a href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/05/day-of-prayer-observed-as-always-with-reverence-and-controversy/">observed</a>.</p>
<p>I said something similar on Thursday while speaking at the <a href="http://www.meetup.com/minnesota-atheists/photos/1375945/23191896/#23455371 ">Minnesota Atheists’ “Day of Reason” event</a> in the Minnesota State Capitol. I traveled to the Twin Cities to speak inside the rotunda while NDP events were going on outside.</p>
<p>My job was to talk about church-state separation and remind legislators and others that this country is made up of people from more than 2,000 different religious groups as well as those who follow no religious path at all. When government officials participate in the National Day of Prayer – which really only represents one faith tradition – they are turning their backs on their constituents who believe otherwise.</p>
<p>I told the 50-some people sitting in the rotunda that the NDP does not stem from our Founding Fathers’ vision. Thanks to heavy lobbying from Religious Right groups, the day has now been hijacked as another way to undercut church-state separation and promote “Christian nation” propaganda.</p>
<p>In state and local governmental buildings across the country, the National Day of Prayer Task Force organizes events where only Christians are welcome. The group, a private organization founded by Shirley Dobson, wife of James Dobson, <a href="http://www.au.org/homepage/features/archive/2011/04-ndp/whats-wrong-with-national-day-of-prayer.html?utm_source=au%2Bhomepage&amp;utm_medium=homepage%2Bbanner&amp;utm_campaign=Featured%2Bon%20homepage">requires</a> that its volunteers sign an evangelical statement of faith and makes sure that no non-Christian speakers step to the podium.</p>
<p>It hardly seems acceptable that our government officials continue to support the NDP, knowing that they are not only favoring one religious group, but that they are endorsing religion over non-religion.</p>
<p>Thomas Jefferson and James Madison opposed prayer proclamations. Jefferson would never issue them, stating that prayer is a religious exercise and should be left up to each individual. Madison, father of our Constitution, issued a few prayer proclamations during the War of 1812, but later wrote that he regretted it.</p>
<p>Americans United’s staff members are often called upon by different groups to talk about church-state separation and why it is good for both religion and government. Whether we are addressing a religious group or an atheist group, our message is the same: the Constitution prevents government from meddling in religious affairs and from religion creeping into our laws.</p>
<p>Standing up against government endorsements of religion is a cause that all Americans ought to share, regardless of where they stand on religion.</p>
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</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/day-reason">Day of Reason</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/government-endorsed-religion">government-endorsed religion</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/minnesota-atheists">Minnesota Atheists</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-day-prayer">National Day of Prayer</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/prayer-proclamations">prayer proclamations</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religion-and-politics">Religion and politics</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/separation-church-and-state">Separation of Church and State</a></span></div></div>Mon, 09 May 2011 16:24:20 +0000Sandhya Bathija2518 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/reason-in-the-rotunda-speaking-up-for-church-state-separation-in-minnesota#comments